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SEMINAR: MBF 602 Student Seminar presented by Andrew Kempesell Friday 12/3/10 S/A (SLAB) seminar room 4:00p
| From: | "Sidney Hartley" <shartley@rsmas.miami.edu> |
| Subject: | SEMINAR: MBF 602 Student Seminar presented by Andrew Kempesell Friday 12/3/10 S/A (SLAB) seminar room 4:00p |
| Date: | Thu, 2 Dec 2010 10:29:52 -0500 |
|
Behavioral deficits accompanying aging
in the California sea hare, Aplysia californica The
California sea hare, Aplysia californica, provides an excellent model
for aging-related research with a relatively short and easily manipulated
lifespan, a simple and well-mapped nervous system, a set of previously studied
behaviors, and a recently completed genome sequence. Due to the simplicity of
this neurophysiological model, it is possible to correlate behavioral reactions
with individual neuronal responses as a function of age. Here, we studied the
righting and tail-withdrawal reflexes of 36 freely-behaving Aplysia over
their lifespan to determine reflex changes accompanying aging. Deterioration in
the time to right itself after displacement, an indicator of the health of an
animal, may serve as a correlate of age-induced neuronal degeneration.
Preliminary experiments suggest that this reflex takes significantly longer to
complete with age. Withdrawal of the tail following a stimulus is another
well-documented behavior with a known neural circuit, making this reflex
optimal for correlating behavioral responses with individual cellular outputs.
A reduced tail-withdrawal reflex (TWR) may correlate with reduced neuronal
architecture and reduced or changed output from neurons innervating the TWR.
Preliminary results suggest that the tail may remain withdrawn for longer
periods of time following a stimulus in aged animals. These finding suggest
that aging in Aplysia may be accompanied by a decline in the response
time of several well-defined behaviors including the tail-withdrawal and
righting reflexes.
B.S. Psychobiology University of California Los Angeles Entered PhD program: Fall 2009 Advisor: Lynne A. Fieber Sidney L.S. Hartley University of Miami RSMAS Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries S. Grosvenor 315 Miami Fl 33149 305-421-4176 305-421-4600-fax |
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